Automatic firearm



E. A. L. BOURDELLES.

AUTOMATIC FIREARM.

APPLICAI'IOII FILED wur 30.1911.

Patbntedlune 21, 1921.

1 SHEETS-SHEET I.

' Inventor,

E. A. L. BOURDELLES.

AUTOMATIC FIREARM.

APPucAnon FILED mu :0. tan.

Patented June 21; 1921.

TSHEEl'S-SHEET 2.

Inunhir.

E. A. L. BOURDELLES.

AUTOMATIC FIREARM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30. I911.

Pawnted June 21, 1921.

1 SHEETS-SHEET 3- Invento E. A. L. BOURDELLES.

AUTOMATIC FlflEARM. APPLICAIIOI! FILED JULY 110M911- Patented June 21,1921.

rsuszrs-s um 4.

5 Fig. 10

E. A. L. BOURDELLES. AUTOMATIC FIREARM.

I AFPLICMIOI min um 10.1w. 1,382,058, PatentedJune 21,1921.

I i warns-sneer '1.

I? Hg. 17

BEST AVAlLABLE COPY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

mums AmLNDB-E LOUIB BOUBDELLEB, 01 BT.-DENIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR T0 seemsmum DES ETAJBLIBSEHINTS DELAUNAY BEILEVILLE, 0F S'L-Dm FRANCE, ACORPORATION OF FRANCE AUTOIA'I'IO Summati n 01 N Patent Patented June21, 1921.

Application sled July 30, 1917. Serial No. 183,817.

To allwlwmitma concern:-

Be it known t at I, Emu: ALEXANDHE Loms Bonnomms, of 1 Rue de lErmitageat St.-Denis,Depart-ment of the Seine, France, citizen of the FrenchRepublic, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticFirearms; and I do hereby declarc the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it a ertains to make and use the same,

.T is invention relates to automatic fire arms in which the operation iseffected by means of the gases of discharge acting on a iston contamedin a cylinder situated be ow the weapon and connected thereto. Theinvention may also be applied to nonautomatic small arms at present inuse by transforming theseinto automatic rifles.

I will describe with reference to the accompanying drawings aconstruction in accordance with the present invent1on but I do not limitmyself to the precise construction described and illustrated. Theinvention is shown as a plied to a French rifle of the 1907 pattern utobviously its application is not limited to such type or pattern ofweapon.

F1 res 1, 2,3 and 4 are side elevatwns, part y in section, of anautomatic rifle in accordance with the present invention.

Fi 5 is a cross section taken on the line 5-5 ig. 1, of the back fpartof the rifle, and showin the means 0 freeing handle cm the operatingrod.

F1 6 is a cross section taken on the line 6-6 io 10 I Fig, is a crosssection taken on-the line 7-7 g. 2. 1

Fi 8 is a cross section taken on the line 8-8 1g. 8 and showing themeans of connection of the operating rod'tothe gas operated piston.

F1 9 is a cross section taken 0'!!- the line 9-9 ig. 4 and showing thegas vent in the bore of the barrel and t 0 variable orifice arm i? 1 aresecti fth 1 1s a an, in on o e midtfie art 0 the r ifle. y

Fi 1 andiFi 12illustrateinsection mod cations of' operating rod.

Fig. 18 shows the back part of the breech,

the leverv closed on the outside to prevent the entrance of dirt, mud orother injurious material.

Fig. 14 is a cross section taken on the line 14-14 Fig. 13, showing thecomplete clo sure of the breech.

Fig. 15 shows in section (line 15-15 of Fi 10) another form of closure,ca able of bemg opened and closed like a sun -box by means of a movablecover or lid which is raised at the moment of firing.

Fig. 16 drawn to an enlar ed scale shows another modification of theclosure, by means of a hinged valve or shutter.

Fig. 17 is a side elevation of another mochfication of a cover inaccordance with this invention.

Fig. 18 is a plan view.

' Fig. 19 is a cross section taken on the line 19-19 of Fig. 17 as seenfrom the front.

Fig. 20 is a cross section taken on the line 20-20 of Fig. 17, as seenfrom the rear Fi 21 is a side elevation of part of a rifle provided withthe breech carrier in the closed position.

Fig. 22 shows the breech carrier pushed back into the firing position.

According to the mvention, the barrel 1 supports a gas-cylinder 2' whichserves ass-$0" pro elling device, through the medium of a. c ampin ring3 which secures the extremity o the gas cylinder 2 to the barrel 1.

The cylinder 2 carries a boss 4 adapted to fit gas tight 'into a seatingin the barrel,

which barrel is provided with a vent 5 through which the gases ofdischarge can when desired through passages 7 and 8 of differentdiametersfm order to regulate the su ly of gas.

s forward end of the plug 6 1s beveled and is adapted to bear on acorresponding seating 9t e thrust-being taken up by a Bellev1lle washer10 or a coiled spring. A lever-handle 11 is provided by means of whichthe plug 6 c n be turned from the 22 havlng a hea 'ment of the breechBEST AVAlLABLE COPY outside to put either the passage 7 or 8 into'communication with the passa e 4" and vent 5. The interior of the gas cyinder 1s rovided with a piston 12 which when acte on of the cylinder 2and is supported in a bearing 15 secured to the rear end of the c linder2 and attached to the barrel 1 y a clamping ring 16 which maintains thebearin r rigidly in position.

The rear end of the piston rod 14 is connected to a rod 17 by a bracketor post 18 and nut 18, and a lock nut 18".

The rod 17 passes through and is guided by a support 19 fixed to thebarrel 1, which a so supports a s rin actuated plunger stop d 20 ietweenw ich and the support 19 the'spring 21 is arranged. The tension on thespring can be adjusted by a nut. The lunger acts as a stop and serves todamp t e supplementary travel of the piston, when the action of thegases of discharge is, in the case of certain shots, too strong.

,The operating rod 17 may if desired be connecte to the cylinder 23 ofthe movable breech part by means of three smooth sectors and threethreaded sectors, which engage with three smooth sectors and threethreaded sectors on the handle 24 connected to the cylinder 23 and bymeans of which the sectors can be engaged with or disengaged fromthecorresponding sectors when rotated in the direction of the arrow Fig. 5.The handle 24 is connected to the cylinder by two lugs and a keyedsleeve 26.

The reciprocating to-and fro movements of the cylmder oduce the rotarymovebolt 26 at the moment of clos1n or of opening by means of a screwthree 27 having a lar e pitch angle.

The engagement 0 the striker in the cooked position is effected, asusual by a) sear tooth 28 projecting into a suite le recess 29 in thetail of the striker.

The gun may be used for firing shot by shot, m spite ofthe action ofthefinger on the sear, or the weapon may be used as a machine gun, aswell as for bringing about 'secunty of firing. 4

The trigger 80 actuates the sear 28 by means of a catch 31 a ainst theaction of the usual sear spring. on bgeone arm 83 of.a bell-crank leverwhich can fixed n one or other of three difierent positions b means of apin, which engages 1n one or 0 here! the holes 84, 85, 86.

g If the ,pin be inserted into the hole 84, the arm 83 prevents the sear281mm descending and thereby gives safety.

e catch can be acted order to prevent the movable breec If the in beinserted in the hole 35, as illustrate in Fig. 1, when the trigger 30 ispulled the catch 31 lowers the sear 28 and the shot is discharged, butat the same time it comes into contact with the extremity of the arm 33which releases it and the sear rises under the action of its spring andthereby retains the striker when next it passes, in spite of thecontinued action of the finger on the trigger 30.

If the pin be inserted in the hole 36, the arm 33 is lowered from theposition shown in Fig. 1 and the continued pressure of the finger on thetrigger 30 keeps the sear 28 thrown back. The shots then succeed eachother without interruption, as in a machine g In the arrangementdescribed above, the breech bolt closes between each shot by the actionof the s ring 13, the striker alone remaining behin as it is retained bythe sear 28. It is driven forward by its spring, of known form, locatedinside the breech bolt when the action of the finger on the triggerreleases it.

When the magazine 37 is exhausted and it is desired to place another inposition'without 'having to overcome the thrust of the spring 13, themovable breech part is freed from the rod by raising the lever handle24. The movable breech part can then be drawn backward, a new ma azineinserted, and the breech can be close by lowering the lever 24, whichagain connects the movable breech part to the operating rod 17.

Anot movement to be obviated while elim'inating the notch 29 as well asthe striker sprin and fixin the tail of the striker to the cy inder 23any suitable means. All that is necessary m this case is toprovide anotch 38 in the breech bolt 26, in which notch the tooth of the sear 28can engage so as to stop the breech bolt in its rear osition.

In this case, when the iin or is pressedon the trigger,.the 5 ring 13orces the rod 17 forward and at t e same time causes the whole of thebreech bolt to move forward which pushes the cartridge forward intoposition m the bore to be acted on b the striker, the striking actionbeing e ected during the last moments of the rotary closerconstructlonal form enables this ing movement of the movable head 26,during which period the cylinder 23 advances able hea Anotherconstructional form enables the time of opening the breech to be delaed, in bolt from turning while there still remains a 1 high pressure inthe barrel.

To this end the operating rod 17 is divided into two parts Figs. 11 and12 one part 39 bem provided with an axial hole 40 into whic theotherrpart 41 of the rod enters.

BEST AVAILABLE COPY Between the two arts of the rod a spring 42 is inteosed, t e tension of which is so adjusted t at the rod acts first tocompress the spring 42 and then drives the part4]. backward.

During the travel of the part 39 the pfoessure of the gases of. dischare in the re becomes reduced, and the acts by virtue of its kinetic'enerfor the remainui part' of the movement or which it is-inten ed.

The breech is returned bythe art 41, by a pin 43 fixed to-the part '89 w'ch slides freely in a slot 44 in the part 41, Fig. 11. The thrust maybe obtained by an other suitable means, such as a head on t 0 part 41acting igainst the rearof the part 39 as shown in 1g. 12..

The back-part of the breech casinglmay if preferred, be closedexternally on t e r1 ht, m order to prevent the access of dirt, mu or'other injurious materialas indicated in the sections 1n Figs, 13 and 14,the lever-handle being carried arther forward along the rod. It may alsobe closed, like a sun box, b means of a movable-cover which is raise atthe moment of firinggig. 15, or by means of a movable valve 46,

g. 16. The operation of. the

mechanism is as follows: When the shot is fired, the of discharge assingthrough the vent 5 in the barrel an one of the holes 7 and 8 in the 1%,-whieh, through the its spring iscompressed.

lugw6, act on the piston 12 and drive it ac ard, together with theoperating rod H of the rod pushes the cylinder 28'=',backward. The,cyiinder bei sequence-of t e enga ment of the external grooves with thebrace box efiects by'means of the'helix 27, the rotation of the breechbolt 26.- At the same time the striker is carried backward-with v to themovable head of the breech-.closm mechanism and e strikertends to remainin its place because of the flatson the screw thread 27.

The rotation ofthe movable head bei'nig efiected, the movabl'e'breechparts as 'a'who e are returned'to 'theback'position as'shown in theufi,The spring 18 then causes it to orwarda "-fo thecartri along and itintofthe bore. 1%: striker remains; e

ged with the sear by means of the notch 9+ The movable'head of thebreech-closing mechsnismis enga its guides, and by' its-forward thrust eii ects the cl The a'ction-ofthe charges erably' oi -surround'a thesliding It is provided with two projections 48 and I trigger the shotandjthe' motion continues.- In themodification shown in F 19, 20, 21atnhdflthe breech cover is pref e shape shown'in Fig. 19 and cyhnder 28'as shown.

incapable of'rotating in con-' flnfir on the liberatessth'e'striker wfch dis-.

49 which engage in grooves 50 and 51 in the breech c At the rearthe'cover is of the sha ustrated in Fig. .19 where it fits close y tothe outline of the breech casing.

When the breech is closed as shown in Fig. 21, .the rotecting breechcover 47 is in the forwar position and is returned by the gunner whenthe operating knob 24 of the movable breech part is drawn backward, thebreech cover, then remaining in this osition, Fig.-22 .until theoperating knob 18 again operated.

I claim:

1. In a. operated automatic fire arm, a'plug having a plurali of holesenabling the action of the gases'o creased ordimimshed, the said plugbeing capable of adjustment from the outside by means of a lever-handlepassing out throu the stock and arranged at ri ht angles to t e barrelin such positlon that 1 does not interfere with the fixing of thebayonet, said plug having a conical ead, a seat for the bee and a springactive to retain the conical head on its seat to form a gas tight joint.

2. In a as-operated fire-arm having a gas-actuate operating piston, aresihent stop placed between the and the gun frame and adapted to suported and guided in an extended portion 0 a rin like member encirclingthe rear end 0 the barrel, said stop being arranged to damp the travelof the piston, and means for regulatthe effectiveness of the. stop.

. In a operated fire-arm havin lka actua o rating piston, a ringe lntmber encircli iig the rear end of the barrel provided with.a pair ofradial extensions, one of said extensions forming an intermediate guidefor the operating rod of said piston, and a springb stolp placed betweenthe piston and move le reech adapted to be guided and an ported in theother extension of said ri e member, said stop being arranged to p thetravel of the iston, and means for varying the tension of stxelipring.

. 4.In'a gas operated automatic means whereb safety, single shot machinegun canbe obtained, said means 'in uding a trigger, a sear, a catch ntobetween the trigger and the sear, and an adjustable stop wi which saidcatch is arran d to coiiperate, the stop being caby -pable 0 threepositions in one of which it rigidly-fixes the'sear, inthe second ofwhich it throws'the catch back and in the third of which it s itselfthrown back from the sear. In testunon whereof I aflix my signature, inpresence 0 two witn IIILI ml! IDUIS IOURDELLES.

-Witnesses:

Case. P. Panssar', Auxaxnaa Bm'nana.

discharge to be inarm and

